News
Brantford-Brant

New condo group being formed

Getting safely out of a burning condo basement was the hot topic at last week’s meeting of the almost-formed Grand River Chapter of the Canadian Condominium Institute.
With newly elected president Maria Finoro at the helm, the group, which has been working on establishing a local chapter for more than two years, heard from representatives from the city’s building department and fire department about concerns condo owners face about basement bedrooms.
The new group doesn’t fully come into existence until July 1st but Finoro said the meeting in the community room of the Brant Mutual Insurance company allowed local condo directors to come together to share information.
“Brantford (condos) have been quite successful in connecting with the city about issues like collecting garbage and others want to learn from each other.
“We’re hear to talk fire codes today because we have to ensure, if there are bedrooms in the basement, they’re safe for residents.”
Finoro said many condos have been built with small basement windows that aren’t large enough for an adult to get out of in case of a fire.
“If then the stairs aren’t accessible, you have a real safety hazard for the residents.”
Worse, Brantford’s condo champion, Maurice “Chevy” Cheveldayoff, who is on the new board, says insurance won’t cover such illegal bedrooms if there is a disaster.
“The liability on this goes to the condo board so we’re looking to make it mandatory that a condo corporation have egress windows in the basement.”
Cheveldayoff said there are 900 old and new condos in the new Grand River catchment area and 100 more being built this year.
In Brantford and Brant County, there are 109 existing condo corporations, at least three more under construction and four more planned.
Cheveldayoff got involved years ago when several city condos were facing bankruptcy and dealing with deteriorating infrastructure they couldn’t afford to fix.
“Things are much better than they were ten years ago. We have a much more informed group and boards. But I still average five to six phone calls a week from people who are upset or frustrated with their condo situation.”
The new chapter of the Canadian Condominium Institute will cover Brantford and Brant, plus Wellington County and Waterloo.
The group’s website – www.cci-grc.ca – will be fully online by mid-May.
For more information, contact the office at 226-314-2955.
SGamble@postmedia.com
@EXPSGamble